Title
Recognizing the contributions of nannies, house cleaners, care workers, and other domestic workers whose work holds up Philadelphia's communities and households by declaring June 16, 2019 as International Domestic Workers Day in the City of Philadelphia.
Body
WHEREAS, Everyday, domestic workers care for the elderly, assist people with disabilities, clean homes, and nurture children, thus freeing up the time and attention of millions of other working families; and
WHEREAS, Domestic work is routinely undervalued and overlooked, casting domestic workers into the shadows and making their needs invisible; and
WHEREAS, The average annual income for Domestic Workers in the City of Philadelphia was $10,000 annually per a report issued by Pilar Go?alons-Pons, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Most Domestic Workers are women of color and immigrant women who live paycheck to paycheck; and
WHEREAS, In 2016, throughout the City of Philadelphia there were over 16,000+ Domestic Workers including nannies, house cleaners, home care workers, gardeners and cooks in the Metropolitan Area; and
WHEREAS, In the U.S. domestic workers were intentionally excluded from the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as a concession to Southern politicians in the early 1900's; and
WHEREAS, This exclusion was mirrored on the state level, creating an unregulated and underground economy that left domestic workers subject to widespread mistreatment and abuse in the U.S.; and
WHEREAS, Without laws to regulate behavior and policies, domestic workers are vulnerable to rampant exploitation including wage theft, sexual harassment and abuse, and discrimination; and
WHEREAS, Domestic workers often have to rely on the good graces of potential employers rather than expect industry standards and practices to protect them; and
WHEREAS, International Domestic Workers Day, June 16, celebrates the 2011 passage of the International Labor Organization Convention 189 for Decent Work for Do...
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